Celtic are now said to be pressing ahead with a deal for Real Oviedo winger Haissem Hassan. The Bhoys have been interested in the Oviedo and Egypt winger for much of the summer, but his current club have been holding firm over their £8million asking price.
Hassan actually has a £10.2million release clause, but Oviedo were hoping to land around £8million, keeping in mind Villarreal have a massive 40% sell-on clause in the deal.
But Oviedo are not cash-strapped, hence they have been able to hold out. They do, however, need to create more salary cap space following relegation to La Liga 2, at least if they want to make a few signings ahead of the fast-approaching new season.
Celtic now closing in on a deal
According to Record Sport, Celtic are advancing in their talks over the signing of Hassan, hoping to land a deal, although it is unclear how much they are willing to pay. Naturally the Bhoys can skip negotiations by paying the release clause, but it's likely they will want to pay less.
Hassan is in the final year of his deal at Oviedo, and he is said to be keen on a move. The Egypt World Cup star was said to be keen on a move to Marseille, but the French club are nowhere close to being able to sign new players due to being significantly over their salary limit, needing to be compliant by the end of the coming season.
Hassan is also said to have rejected a big-money move to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, wanting to remain in Europe. He may now get that with Celtic, who are in need of a winger signing or two.
Fares Ghedjemis is another player Celtic have been looking at, but the Frosinone winger has a bigger asking price. It remains to be seen whether the Bhoys will continue that pursuit in the wake of prioritising Hassan.
If he does sign in the coming days, the winger will become the third signing of the summer for Celtic, after Camilo Duran and Kasper Hogh, and it will be a huge boost ahead of the first leg of the Champions League playoffs, on August 18.
Celtic still have plenty of areas they need to address, and they still have to get this deal over the line, but talks appear to be heading in the right direction.
The Bhoys are next in action against Kilmarnock on Sunday, which will be their second league game and first away game of the season.
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